A retired financier was found with hundreds of child abuse images after he started searching the internet out of boredom.

Robert Sutherland, aged 87, retired to Newton Abbot after a successful business career in Switzerland but became bored after finishing a distance learning degree.

He was traced through his use of peer-to-peer file sharing sites several years after he downloaded the material, Exeter Crown Court was told.

He has suffered social stigmatisation as a result of being prosecuted and has been asked to stay away from his church and skittles team.

Sutherland, of Blenheim Close, Newton Abbot, admitted four counts of making or possessing indecent images of children and was jailed for six months, suspended for 18 months and ordered to attend 40 hours of probation supervision by Judge Erik Salomonsen.

He also ordered him to sign on the sex offenders register for seven years and made him subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period which allows the police to monitor his future internet use.

Read More

He told him:"Very few men come before this court of your age and good character and with the undoubted good working career and family life.

"Here you are pleading guilty to possession of images, some of which were in the most serious category and involved penetration. You were in peer to peer communication who had, on the face of it, similar interests.

"The probation report talked about your previous life, your boredom, and how you ended up tied to your computer and interested in these images. You understand now that the children in them are being abused.

"The report says there is room for movement in your understanding of the seriousness of the offence and in light of all the features of the case it seems there is no useful purpose in sending you to prison today."

Read More

The report said that after finishing his degree Sutherland, who has been married for 58 years, started spending a lot of time on the internet while his wife had other hobbies.

Mr Barry White, defending, said:"Mr Sutherland is mortified by his actions. The whole process has been very difficult for a man of previous good character.

"He has already experienced a significant degree of punishment. He has had a letter from his church asking him to stay away until he has signed a safeguarding form and the captain of his skittles team has told him it may be a good idea if he did not play any more."